Tennis net



May 22, 1934 c. DUNSCOMBE l,959,574

TENNIS NET Filed Feb. 13, 1930 v v v v v v v v y Patented May 212, 1934 PATENT ori-Ice TENNIS NET Carroll Dunscombe, Stuart, Fla., assignor to American Wire Fence Company, Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of Illinois Application February 13, 1930, Serial No. 428,070

3 Claims.

This inventionr relates to tennis nets.

Tennis nets heretofore in use have been made of a fabric material and therefore they have not been able to withstand moisture. They have been satisfactory when used indoors or in fair weather but, if used outdoors, it has been neces sary to remove them from the courts to a shelter in the event of rain in order to prevent them from shrinking and rotting. There is l0- considerable inconvenience and loss of time in taking down and setting up a tennis net and, even in fair weather, the fabric nets are seldom left out doors over night. Fabric nets vhave also been objectionable because of the readiness to tear and because they stretch and lose their shape.

The main objects of this invention are to provide a tennis net which will withstand moisture and all kinds of weather conditions so that when once set up it may be left on the court all season if desired; to provide improved posts for supporting the net; to provide posts which are readily removable from the ground so as to `permit the ground to be quickly cleared of obv structions when it is desired to roll the court or when itis desired to use the ground for other purposes; and to provide improved attaching means for adjustably securing a wire tennis net to the posts.

An illustrative embodiment is shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein:-

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of an improved tennis net and one of the supporting posts, part of the post socket and ground being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation of the improved net with part of the facing cut away; the post being shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the upper part of the net, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

In the construction herein shown, the improved net comprises a metallic netting 1 having improved adjustable fasteners 2 detachably secured to the side edges thereof for attachment to posts 3.

The wire netting is preferably of the chain link type, as shown in Fig. 2, and it is made of suitable rust resisting metal such as galvanized wire. The wire is of comparatively heavy gauge so as not to be distorted by the impact of the tennis balls.

Secured to the upper edge of the netting, is a metal cable 4 having its ends looped to form eyelets 5 for attachment to two of the fasteners.

In order to prevent possible injury to the tennis balls in striking the net, the upper and lower edges of the wire netting are faced with fabric n or other non-metallic facings or binders 6, which are detachably secured to the netting by laces '7, or snap fasteners, not shown.

The edges of the flexible netting are reinforced with rigid bars 8, which may be wired to the netting, as shown at 9. 55'

In the construction illustrated, each of the fasteners 2 comprises a pair of telescoping threaded members 10 and 11. The members 10 are provided with hooks 12 for attachment to the net. The two top hooks are attached to the cable 4 and the others are attached to the reinforcing bars 8. The members 11 are rotatably supported in the posts 3 and are provided with heads 13 for the application of a wrench in adjusting the tension of the net. Lock nuts 14 may be secured to the inner ends of the members 11 toI secure the fasteners against accidental expansion or contraction.

In the form shown, the posts 3 are removably seated in sockets 15 which are embedded in concrete bases 16. The sockets 15 are provided with cross pins 17 on which the posts rest. The upper ends of the sockets 15 are flush with the ground so as not to present any obstruction when the posts and net are removed.

In operation, to set up the net, the posts are dropped into their sockets and the wire netting is attached to the improved fasteners 2. The uppermost fasteners are tightened so as to draw the cable 4 taut. Experiments have disclosed that when the lower part of the net is relaxed, a ball striking the net will drop to the foot of the net instead of rebounding. For this reason, the lower fasteners 2 are4 not tightened to the 95 same extent as the uppermost fasteners but are relaxed in a progressive degree as they approach the bottom of the net. The upper edge of the net is kept taut and the depending part is left in a progressively varying relaxed condition so that the lateral or horizontal tension in the net is decreased gradiently from the top to the bottom.

A tennis net of this improved construction may be left outdoors throughout the season without` fear of injury through adverse weather conditions.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that certain details of the 110 constructions shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I Claim:

1. A device of the class described comprising a pair of posts, a tennis net suspended between said posts, and a plurality of vertically spaced telescoping screw threaded fasteners for adjustably securing said net to one of said posts and varying the lateral tension in said net gradiently from the top to the bottom thereof, each of said fasteners comprising a pair of members, one of said members being secured to said net, the other of said members being rotatably supported on said one post and secured against lateral movement relative thereto.

2. A device of the class described comprising a pair of posts, a tennis net suspended between said posts, hooks detachably secured to the side edges of said net, and vertically spaced rotatable members supported on and extending through said posts and threaded to said hooks for adjustably supporting said net and Varying the lateral tension therein gradiently from the top to the bottom thereof.

3. A device of the class described comprising a pair of posts, a cable extending between said posts, a metallic wire tennis net suspended from said cable, means for tensioning said cable to maintain the' upper edge of said net taut, and other means on said posts, each comprising a pair of vtelescoping screw-threaded members, one of said members being secured to the edge of said net and having an externally threaded portion, the other of said members being rotatably supported on one of said posts and having a hollow internally threaded portion extending therethrough for engagement with the irst named member, said other means being individually adjustable for varying the lateral tension in said net gradiently from the top to the bottom thereof.

CARROLL DUNSCOMBE. 

